


Glam and Glitter

by katyabarnes



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 20:09:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12778584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katyabarnes/pseuds/katyabarnes
Summary: Alec Lightwood has it easy. Girls, college, friends... did he mention girls? After the destruction of his parent's marriage and a swift move to New York, he's excited for the new things it will bring him. And all the new girls he can flirt with. But when Alec meets the owner of a prestigious little clothing store, he begins to question who it is he really wants to spend his time with. But Magnus is a guy, so that can't be right. Right?Alec is NOT straight in this fic, he just wrongly identifies himself as such at the beginning.





	Glam and Glitter

**Author's Note:**

> **PLEASE READ THE NOTE AT THE END! ALEC IS NOT STRAIGHT IN THIS FIC!**  
>  Hey! I've never posted on here before, so it's good to meet you all I guess. I'm British, and although I tried to use some Americanisms to make this feel closer to the original, I failed miserably (Is cellphone one word!?). I have a faint idea of where I want this story to go, but I'm writing it as I go so any and all suggestions are welcome :) Unedited, and my writing skills aren't great, but I hope you enjoy this anyway! I love feedback, so please leave a comment or even DM (is that the lingo we use here on AO3?) me and tell me what you think. <3

“Clary said it was the it-place for fashion students, Alec. We have to go  _now_.”  
  


“Clary?”

 

Izzy sighed, pinching her nose in irritation as she dropped the final moving box onto her bedroom floor. “Yes, Alec. Clary. The girl I told you about five hundred times already, from that newbie college forum I keep telling you to join.”  
  


“You know that forum is probably full of old guys wanting to lure vapid college girls out for a 'tour' of their bedroom, right?”

 

“Are you calling me vapid?”

 

Alec raised a single brow in response, leaning his weight more fully against his sister's door as he watched her open the first of five thousand boxes of her clothing. How anyone could need seven shades of the same sweater was beyond him.

 

“Look,” she began to reason, Alec sensing the onset of her puppy eyes before she even looked up. He braced himself. “I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't desperate. I'm really nervous about Parsons, Alec, so I think going to the student hangout will be good for me. I might even make some friends.”

 

“Isn't  _Clary_  your friend?” Alec replied sarcastically, still unsure of whether or not this chick was even a girl at all. It all sounded sketchy as hell to him. “And I still don't understand why you can't just go by yourself,” he added hastily upon seeing the suspected widening of her eyes.   
  


“Because,” she stressed, as though this shouldn't be new information to Alec, “if you come, we can finally start working on that new wardrobe of yours.”

 

“No.”

 

“Alec,” Izzy admonished. “Girls aren't going to hit on you when they realise you've worn that exact shirt every day since you were twelve. Black is out.”

 

Alec raised a hand to his heart, feigning hurt. “You wound me, Iz. You know how much my fashion sense means to me.” He rolled his eyes, before adding with a wink, “Besides, getting girls is something we both know I  _don't_  need to work on.”

 

Izzy obnoxiously mimed sticking a finger down her throat. Despite her knack for giving her brother too much information about her own love life, she detested him bragging about his success with girls. Maybe it was jealousy, which he could certainly see being the case as he'd overtaken her number last month. Alec had no idea, but loved using it to gross her out all the same. “I got Amy on her knees in five--”

 

“Shut the fuck up!”

 

Alec smirked, taking that as a win. As he turned to leave, however, he saw their mother hovering in the hallway, looking at Alec expectantly. His smirk melted into more of a grimace at the urgency on her stern features. “You alright, Mom?”

 

“Either you or Jace can help me move the rest of the boxes in, Alexander. Ten minutes into our 'fresh start' and I already find you and your sister doing nothing of worth. I can't say I'm surprised.” She shook her head in dismay.

 

Izzy suddenly appeared at Alec's side, winning smile in place. Alec mused that it was probably the fastest anyone had moved to be in such close proximity with their mother. “Alec can't, Mom. He's coming with me to the college hangout a few blocks away.” Her smile grew, knowing she'd trapped her brother between a rock and a hard place. “Right, Alec?”

 

“Right,” he agreed slowly, noticing the way their mother's smile softened from glacial to sharp at the mention of college. It was convenient that his sister hadn't mentioned said hangout was at a fucking dress shop. He smiled, briefly wondering if it would have been better to spend the afternoon with his mother after all. “We're actually running a bit late, so you're gonna have to get Jace to help,” is what he said instead.

 

He didn't miss the smirk on Izzy's face as his mother left to ruin their adoptive brother's day. He glared in response, silently vowing to get his own back before the week was done.

 

* * *

 

Thankfully, Alec had taken note of the gloomy weather and decided to bring an umbrella, because it was fucking raining. He peeked up from beneath its edge as he'd had to lower the damn thing to cover Izzy, and blinked.

 

“ _Glam and_   _Glitter_?” he spat, not even trying to hide his disgust. “Are you fucking serious?”

 

“They call it GG,” Izzy murmured, distracted by the sight ahead of them.

 

Alec had to admit it stood out, if nothing else. Although the venue itself was small, what caught Alec's attention was the contents of the shop window. The dummies in the brightly lit window were dressed... boldly, Alec thought. He didn't think he'd ever seen so many combinations of colour in his entire life. Greens and pinks, golds and silvers, glitter adorning pretty much every item of clothing he could see. It was certainly more eccentric than anything he'd seen before. He felt a tug at his lips in quiet amusement at the look on his little sister's face. Dealing with the fallout of their parents' marriage in the past few months hadn't given them much to be happy about, but Izzy's enthusiasm when it came to fashion was something Alec was happy she'd been able to find, however much he might tease her for it.

 

“So... did you wanna walk up or shall we just stare at it all night?”

 

“Shut up.” Izzy didn't sound mad at all, slotting her arm through Alec's as her body regained its strength and they headed for the store.

 

“I thought you said everyone hung out here,” was the first thing Alec said, immediately taking note of the wasteland that was 'GG'. So much for it being the it-hangout, he thought disappointedly, having hoped to meet a college girl or two tonight. Izzy looked affronted.

 

“Shh!” she hissed.

 

“The clothes can't hear you, Iz.”

 

She stuck her tongue out, dropping his arm to admire a red, sequinned dress by the entrance. It didn't look any different to the many red dresses she already owned in Alec's opinion, but the look of awe on her face as she stared at the damn thing implied it was a gift sent straight from God Himself.

 

“Oh my God,” she whispered, affirming Alec's thoughts. God, indeed. “This is brilliant. Do you see this dress? I could swear it looks exactly like something I saw in Vogue last month. Vogue, Alec!”

 

Alec almost didn't hear her, his attention having been caught by a clothed dummy at the back of the store. It stood out from its counterparts, more of a two-piece in comparison to the racks and racks of dresses Izzy was steadily making her way through. The mannequin in question adorned tight,  _tight_  black pants that almost glittered in the dim lighting of the store, paired with a shirt nothing like Alec had seen in his life, its fabric too delicate to belong in such a rundown little store. The shirt's V was revealing to say the least, almost enough to make even Alec blush at its androgyny. As while this outfit could objectively be seen as feminine, the slight hints of masculinity in its design were undeniable. Alec took a step towards it, mesmerised by how out of place it looked among the rest of the store's contents, when a low voice rung out across the otherwise deserted room.

 

“Is everything alright?” A man stepped out of a back door not far from Alec, smiling at them both in greeting and eventual surprise. “I must apologise. I was dealing with some business in the back. You guys are new, right? I'm  _positive_  I would have remembered seeing you two before.”

 

Something about the way he said that last line made Alec look twice at the man making his way toward them. There was nothing too remarkable about him. Asian, shorter than Alec but still taller than the average male, brown eyes and similarly brown hair. Objectively speaking, there was no reason for Alec to look twice. But something about the man's presence made him do so anyway.

 

He took a moment to analyse the stranger's outfit, not much different to that of the mannequin Alec had been heading for. Tight maroon pants, and a deep blue shirt leaving little to the imagination as it dipped to reveal a large section of his otherwise unclothed chest. Alec only eyed said chest for a moment longer than socially acceptable before drawing his eyes back up to the man's face, only to blink slowly in shock at what he saw.

 

The guy was wearing make-up.

 

Izzy interrupted Alec's inner musings as to how a guy could actually pull off silver fucking eyeliner by rushing to his side, linking her arm back through a stunned Alec's as she returned the guy's smile. “Yeah, we actually just moved here today. I'm transferring to Parsons and heard this was the it-place for fashion students. And fuck if that isn't true, these dresses are unbelievable. Who designs these?”

  
The guy smiled shyly at Izzy, his eyes creasing in a way that brought Alec's attention to his  _blue eyeshadow_. Alec was glad he wasn't looking at them both, because he was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open at this point. “I'm afraid I must take credit for that. A vast number of the designs you see are actually my own.”

 

Now Alec was pretty sure his jaw had reached the floor. “You mean you made all this shit yourself?”

 

Izzy's eyes cut to her brother in horror, but she seemed too stunned to admonish him properly. “That's amazing. Parsons?” she guessed.

 

“Oh no.” He shrugged the thought off, seemingly incredulous Izzy would even suggest such a thing. “I'm not a student, I just help run the store. It was my mother's pride and joy, so I guess you could say I was brought up in the industry.”

 

Izzy gave a low whistle, looking back to the dress she'd been drooling over before they'd been interrupted. “This dress in particular is fabulous. I hear the material is hard to come by.”

 

“As I said, I was brought up in the industry.” He winked, something stirring in Alec's gut as he watched the interaction. Had he forgotten to eat? “I have contacts.”

 

Alec walked over to join Izzy, flipping the dress' tag over, only to blink in surprise. “$100? I thought this place was exclusive or something.”

 

“Alec!” Izzy hissed, batting Alec's hands away as though he could actually infect the dress with prolonged contact. When Alec sheepishly turned to see the owner's reaction, he was surprised to see nothing more than vague amusement. Alec still smiled in apology, embarrassed at how that must have sounded. No matter how little he knew about fashion, it was still obvious this guy's creations weren't cheap.

 

He winked at Alec, acknowledging his silent apology. Alec's stomach flipped for a second time that night. He figured he really needed to take Izzy out for a burger before they went home. Moving must have really taken it out of him.

 

“You want it?” he asked, hoping to mollify his sister. “It's on me for being a dick.”

 

“Too right,” she snapped, but her excited smile said otherwise. Alec leant his umbrella against the nearby table to fish out his wallet as the owner walked to the till with an amused smile. Izzy practically skipped over to join him, looking nothing less than a child on Christmas morning. Alec supposed it was worth the burning feeling in his wallet. So much for grabbing a burger on the way home.

 

The stranger rang up the dress, humouring Izzy as she went off on a tirade about sparkles and glitter. Or whatever it was fashion students talked about. Alec took his own silence as an excuse to watch the guy as he talked. He couldn't help but think about how strange it was for an owner and designer to serve customers by day. Did he do this often? He didn't look much older than Alec himself. When the object of his questionable attentions finally turned to ask him for payment, Alec averted his eyes and paid with his card.

 

“So this young lady is attending Parsons,” the guy said, grabbing a bag for the dress. “What's your story?”

 

Surprised to be addressed, Alec took a moment to collect his thoughts. Why he felt so flustered all of a sudden was beyond him. It's not like he lacked confidence, especially when talking about himself. “I'm transferring to NYU. Business.”

 

“Ah,” the guy said. “You seem the type.”

 

Before Alec could figure out what the hell  _that_  meant, the owner was passing the bag over to him with a smile and bidding them a good day. Izzy dragged a stunned Alec out of the store, only leading him halfway down the street before he realised it was still raining.

 

And he'd left his umbrella in the store.

 

Izzy had already run for cover under a nearby shop entrance, fretting over her hair and bitching at Alec for being so stupid.

 

“Wait here,” he grumbled, holding a hand over his hair as in a feeble attempt to protect it. Izzy gave him a look as he turned back towards 'GG'. She'd clearly had no intentions of walking back through the rain, despite his insistence. Girls.

 

Once he made it back inside the warmth of the store, he was actually grateful for its lack of customers. He shook the rain off his hair like a dog, glad no college girls were seeing him in this state. That would definitely damage to his number, and he had no intentions of letting his sister surpass him. Or, God forbid, his  _brother_. He shuddered as he grabbed his umbrella, making a hasty exit.

 

Or at least attempting to.

 

“Forget something?”

 

Alec turned to greet the familiar voice, holding his umbrella up in reply as he smiled sheepishly at the owner. He tried not to get too caught up in staring at the way the man's eyeliner glittered as he cocked his head to the side in consideration. As Alec tried to make his escape, the guy stopped him a second time.

 

“Where's your... the girl you came with?”

 

Alec didn't miss the slip-up. “My sister.” He also didn't miss the urge he had felt to make that clarification. “She's a few doors down - probably cursing my very existence as we speak.” He held the umbrella up in explanation, the man laughing in kind. He had a nice laugh, Alec guessed. As far as laughs went. Not that he noticed guys laughs all that often. Or ever.

  
He shook himself. “I'll see you around then.”

 

As he turned to leave, however, a thought struck him.

 

“Hey. I don't suppose you have any jobs going?” The owner raised an eyebrow, giving Alec a once-over. “For my sister,” he clarified, fighting a ridiculous urge to blush. “I noticed you don't seem to have any staff-- not that you need me to tell you that, I mean--” he stuttered.

 

“It's okay,” the guy said, clearly trying not to laugh at Alec's blatant stupidity. “I understand. We actually do have a girl who helps out when she's not at college.”

 

“Of course you do. I'm sorry for making assumptions... I mean, you're clearly an established business owner. Who am I to tell you--”

 

“However,” the man interrupted, still smiling, “I guess we could make some room for your sister. She seems like she knows her stuff. And Parsons – that's impressive.”

 

“She does!” Alec insisted. “She was top of every one of her classes back home. She wont let you down – this will be the opportunity of a lifetime for her, I swear.”

 

The stranger stalled him with a finger, retrieving a cellphone from his back pocket. Alec briefly pondered how a phone could even  _fit_  in pockets that tight. That was until he held said phone out to Alec.

 

“Here.” Alec stared at the phone like it was on fire. The guy smiled in response to the look of horror on his face. “To add your number, so I can contact you regarding the position, of course.”

 

Alec took the offered phone, somehow managing to remember his number despite the sudden vastness that was the contents of his brain. He handed it back, looking anywhere but at the guy as he did so. Something about the man made him strangely nervous. Perhaps it was his  _glittery eyeliner_. Or his suspiciously tight pants, which Alec definitely hadn't noticed. He really didn't know. As he stumbled out his third goodbyes and turned to leave, the man stopped him with a laugh.

  
“I need your name.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“To add to your contact, of course.”

 

“Oh.” Alec turned, giving the man an embarrassed smile. He seemed to be doing that a lot tonight. “Sorry. I'm Alec.”

 

The designer typed the name into his phone, pocketing it afterwards and giving Alec another one of his dazzling smiles. “It's been a pleasure to meet you, Alec. My name is Magnus Bane. You know.” He winked. “For you to add to my contact and all.”

 

Alec left Glam and Glitter in a daze, face burning. It wasn't until he and an elated Izzy arrived home later that evening that he wondered why Magnus hadn't asked Alec for his sister's number.

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd add a little note at the end here to clear up any confusion regarding Alec's sexuality. I'd like to think that in 2017 we can be a little more fluid with our labels, but I still understand your confusion. In this fic, Alec has only been with girls, and I'd like to think of him as being initially attracted to Magnus in a Pansexual kind of way. What I mean by this is that he has never explored his feelings for men up until this point, and because of this he does not instantly recognise his sexual attraction, it is more of a wanting to get to know more about him and falling for him romantically first. He has enjoyed sex in a physical way and assumed he was straight because of this. His feelings for Magnus are what will make him question this. I really don’t understand how this makes Alec any less of a gay man. Whether or not you are a gold star does not take away from your sexual identity. I have decided to do this because I think the idea is quite different, and people like might to read something a little more unique. I am NOT taking the LGBTQ+ element out of Shadowhunters/The Mortal Intrsuments at all, I'm just coming at it from a different angle. Similarly to how Raphael is canonically asexual/aromantic, but is often made gay/bi in fics. No harm meant and not disrespecting the roots of the character, just having a little fun with them, as FanFiction was meant for. I really hope you can work through this and continue reading, as like I said, this fic is not really going to be about Alec's sexuality, merely him falling in love, regardless of Magnus' gender. I only put the straight! warning in because it's what Alec himself identifies as at the beginning of the story, and I didn’t want to squick anyone out. Thank you! <3


End file.
